India Seeks Preferential U.S.Tariffs Before Finalizing Trade Deal
India is holding back the final announcement of its trade deal with the U.S. until Washington offers Indian exporters better tariff terms than those available to competing countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, September 3.
The two countries have been negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), with India seeking terms that can give its businesses a stronger position in the U.S. market.
“As soon as the U.S. is able to give us the preferential rate in comparison to our competition, we will finalize the BTA and announce the final details,” Goyal said while addressing a national workshop under the Leveraging FTAs Outreach program.
India and the U.S. have been working on the agreement for several months. During U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s June 22-24 visit to New Delhi, he and Goyal reviewed key parts of the proposed deal, including market access, digital trade, supply chain resilience, non-tariff barriers and cooperation in strategic sectors.
Both sides had said their negotiating teams had made substantial progress and reiterated their aim of reaching an agreement that is balanced, commercially meaningful and beneficial to businesses, farmers, workers and consumers in both countries.
In February, India and the U.S. announced a framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade, while also reaffirming their commitment to the wider BTA.
Goyal also said India is looking to conclude several other trade agreements in the coming months and years. The potential partners include Canada, Mexico, Chile, the Brazil-led Mercosur bloc, the Southern African Customs Union, the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and Israel.
He said trade agreements already concluded by India are creating new export opportunities for Indian businesses.
The U.S. remains one of India’s biggest trading partners. In 2025, India’s goods exports to the U.S. stood at $103.82 billion, while U.S. exports to India were about $45.6 billion, taking total goods trade to $149.42 billion.
Services trade between the two countries stood at $92.23 billion in 2025. India exported $48.67 billion in services to the U.S. and imported $43.56 billion.
